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Sighing, I get out of my chair without a word to Beck or Addie and make my way over to a garbage can, dumping my mostly full plate of food. Mom spots me, and she must’ve noticed my plate.
“You weren’t hungry?”
I shake my head, saying nothing.
She frowns. “You all right?”
“Did you know about Eli and the NFL?” I blurt.
Her expression barely shifts. “Yes.”
I gape at her. “And you didn’t think to tell me?”
“I don’t know how to bring him up in conversation with you right now,” she admits. “And I figured you might not even care.”
“My problem is I care too much,” I stress. “I wish you would’ve told me. Gracie mentioned it and I about fell over, I was so surprised.”
“He called your father,” Mom says, her voice low. “Right after he found out.”
“What?” I say it so loudly, everyone swivels their head in our direction. My cheeks turn red with embarrassment, but thankfully they all look away and resume their conversations.
Mom nods. “Your father mentioned it to me that night. I guess Eli had no one else to share it with and wanted to tell your dad.”
“Was Dad nice to him?” They haven’t always had the best relationship. My father used to actively dislike him. Didn’t help, that one time Dad caught Eli in the back yard with me in the middle of the night.
We were young and in love and no one was going to stop us. Not even my father.
Just like with Jake, my father eventually came around. My mom always had a soft spot for Eli. She likes broken boys though.
And Eli Bennett is definitely a broken boy. He used to be my broken boy.
Now I’m the ex who finds out his important life events second-hand.
“Yes, he was nice,” Mom answers.
“Huh.” I wish he would’ve called me. I wish I was the first person he wanted to tell.
“Kind of risky, considering how your father feels about him,” Mom continues.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Your father doesn’t approve of the way he treated you when you went to Spain. I don’t either. But he said all of the right things to Eli and told him that he’s proud of him. That’s all Eli really wanted.”
Just as I suspected, Eli still doesn’t have any familial support. It’s so badly fractured he had to talk to my dad to get an adult’s approval.
“Why didn’t he tell me?” The moment the words leave me, I feel pathetic. He didn’t tell me because we’re not together. I don’t deserve to know. I’m out of his life, just as he’s out of mine. I don’t tell him what’s going on with me, why should I expect him to let me know about the NFL?
“You’re not his girlfriend any longer,” Mom reminds me gently. “And you’re still mad at him, right? He probably thought you didn’t care.”
Probably. Has he already moved on? Maybe he just wanted to brag.
See Drew Callahan? I’m worth it. I’m worthy of you and your family. Your daughter. I have potential, even though you never really believed in me.
I can hear Eli say those exact words in my head, though he’d never repeat them to my father out loud.
Bet he thought it though. I know how he works. How he thinks.
I know Eli Bennett better than anyone else on this planet. But I don’t have to worry about him anymore. He’s not mine.
